The Null Device

2001/5/25

NASA have released new photographs debunking the "face on Mars", and showing it to be nothing more than a hill. Of course, the true believers can always claim that the pictures
are fakes, created or doctored to suppress the truth about alien
civilisations, or something of the sort.

After the Swedish Antichrist had their first album, 1987: What The Fuck Is
Going On?, deleted and destroyed on
grounds of copyright violation, The KLF released a version with
the infringing samples excised. This version fit on a 12" single, and came with
this instruction sheet on
how to simulate the
original album, using only three record decks, a TV, stack of records and
a tape of Top Of The Pops.

A novelty company in Britain has started selling an "invisible toy doll". The Invisible Jim
action figure consists of empty packaging boasting features such as "lack of
darting eyes" and "realistic fake hair", and retails for £1.99.
Nonetheless, some purchasers have failed to get the joke, and returned it for
a refund, on the grounds that the "doll" was missing.

Some local governments in the US have hit upon an ingenious means of raising revenue: by installing red-light cameras and shortening amber light times from five to three seconds, thus catching more motorists.

Battery kids:
In the US, baby-boomer parents, many of whom undoubtedly smoked pot and
listened to Black Sabbath in their misspent youth, are making sure that
their kids don't get to make the same mistakes, and as such are wiring their
teenagers up with tracking devices to keep them out of trouble.
Though the devices may ultimately cause more harm than good.
(via Plastic)

A psychological study commissioned by printer manufacturer Lexmark claims that
the fonts you use
reveal your personality. Courier is conservative, used by "old-school"
journalists, Helvetica shows that you're "in touch with contemporary issues"
and Times New Roman shows trustworthiness and compromise between old and new.
And presumably all of the above show that the user is too apathetic to actually
find and install some less overused fonts.
(via Meg)